Donors with these groups will be able to walk in and donate at
Bristol Donor Centre in Southmead Road, without the need to make an
appointment.

The recent freezing weather and snow put many people off
donating, and led to some cancelled sessions, meaning stocks of
these valuable groups are lower than seriously ill hospital
patients will need this Christmas.

O negative is the universal donor blood which can be safely give
to almost anyone, making it especially valuable for trauma patients
where there is little time to test for blood groups. Only 9% of
donors are O negative.

B negative is particularly important because many patients with
serious blood disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia
need B negative blood. Only 2% of donors are B negative and it is a
blood group more common in black and Asian people.

Bristol Blood Donor Centre is in Southmead Road, BS10 5LX, and
has a wide variety of opening hours over the next few days, which
can be seen at blood.co.uk. Donors usually make appointments to
donate but donors with the in demand groups will just be able to
turn up and donate.

Jon Latham, NHS Blood and Transplant said: "The recent poor
weather has resulted in us having less O negative and B negative
blood than is required for patients going into Christmas.

"If you are a donor with one of these important blood groups,
please just walk into Bristol Donor Centre as soon as you can, and
we will take your blood.

"Seriously ill patients in Bristol will need blood this
Christmas and they will rely on the generosity of people making
time to donate now.

"If you know that you have one of these blood groups and you can
donate please take action now and walk in and donate - you will
save lives."

You can get more information about Bristol Donor Centre by
calling the Donor Line on 0300 123 23 23 or visiting www.blood.co.uk